Social Housing
Having worked with housing associations since 1985, Mazars is a leading provider of professional services to the social housing sector.
A new way to fund social housing decarbonisation
Retrofit Credits scheme
Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust (HACT) and Arctica Partners have developed a project, Retrofit Credits, which is a carbon credit scheme whereby organisations, businesses, and corporates can ‘buy back’ carbon credits by investing in the decarbonisation projects of social housing providers.
This will allow providers to access funds which will both reduce emissions and create social value for communities and residents. It offers a standardised approach to measuring emission reductions and social value created by retrofitting homes. This will assist providers in conducting more measurable retrofit programmes and allow targeted reporting of goals achieved.
HACT has outlined the process of the scheme as:
The programme is expected to issue 21 Retrofit Credits for up to 21 years. Credits will be assigned in relation to the volume of emissions reduced in each case, with one credit equal to one metric tonne of CO2. Pricing per credit is likely to vary, with growth in value estimated to increase as more organisations seek to further their Net Zero objectives. [2]
A pilot project has launched to test the methodology and social value outcomes which will run until June 2023. Applications are currently open for the pilot project.
How we can help
Whilst this project would greatly assist social housing providers in funding their decarbonisation goals, you must consider the risk implications involved in correctly calculating the monetary value of social and environmental initiatives.
The quality of data must be paramount to ensure that efficiencies realised are reported. In addition, housing providers must be wary of any potential risk of greenwashing and must ensure that any funds received from this scheme are used appropriately and compliance is strictly monitored.
Our team of experts can offer risk consulting and advisory services to assist social housing providers in ensuring they are achieving their decarbonisation aims in an appropriate manner.
Our Risk Consulting and Sustainability teams can offer reviews focusing on areas such as:
Get in touch
[2]Social Housing - News - Housing providers to sell carbon credits under new sector initiative
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